The Peace of Paris, 1919

Section 17.87, 17.88 & 17.90

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk• War in Europe led to the

Revolution of 1917• Tsarist regime lost the loyalty

of its people• Gov was bunglers, dishonest,

secretive• Forced thousands of

peasants into battle without rifles

• 1917 troops in St. Petersburg (renamed Petrograd during war) mutinied

• Nicholas II abdicated on March 15

The Bolsheviks• Provisional government

– Moderate liberals, republicans and constitutionalists

– continued the war• VI Lenin

– 4/1917 German government smuggled Lenin into Russia

• Hoped he would foment rebellion pull Russia out of the war

• Russian army collapsed• Lenin and the Bolsheviks

seized power 11/1917

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3/3/1918)• Bolsheviks

– Viewed war as struggle between capitalist and imperialists powers

• let them kill each other

– Surrendered• Poland, Ukraine,

Finland, and the Baltic provinces (all declared independence)

• Germany – Begins to

concentrate troops on Western Front

American Intervention

The United States and the War• By May, 1918 Germany advanced to

the Marne (37 miles to Paris)• American aid was to be the deciding

factor• American opinion was divided

– German, Irish immigrants hated the British

– yet culturally connections bonded the two

• Allied victory would clearly advance the cause of democracy, freedom, and progress– England and France seemed too cozy

with Russian Tsardom• Collapse of the Tsar opened the way

for U.S. involvement• March 1918 war was a race to see if

American aid could reach in time

“To Make the World Safe for Democracy”• Factors that led America to

war– Lusitania– Zimmerman note– discovery of German spies

sabotaging munitions factories

– resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare 1/31/17

– Debt owed by Triple Entente

• Wilson asked Congress for war “to make the world safe for democracy”

• Congress declared war on 4/6/1917

German High Command Abandons Ship• Ludendorff had almost

dictatorial powers• Only High Command

realized cause was hopeless• 9/29 Ludendorff informs the

Kaiser that Germany must ask for peace

• Urged that a new government be formed and aligned with the Reichstag

• Why did he ask for this?– Might win time to regroup and

prepare a new offensive– The civilian elements in

Germany would be the ones to sue for peace not the High command

The Armistice• Armistice on 11/11/1918• All was quiet on the

western front• 10 million dead• 20 million wounded• U.S. 115,000 dead

(50,000 in battle)• U.S. aid proved to be

the deciding factor when posed against the exhausted armies of Europe

The Weimar Republic• 11/9 the Kaiser abdicated• Germany was proclaimed a

republic • The republic emerged because

– The victorious Allied Powers demanded it

– The German people craved peace– The military class wanted to save

face

• The republic did not emerge from revolutionary action

• The military was still intact• Gave rise to the idea that the

army was “stabbed in the back” by liberal democratic Jews leading the country

The Fourteen Points and the Treaty of Versailles

• A New Era : Wilson called for:– End to secret treaties– Freedom of the seas– Removal of barriers and inequalities in

international trade (free trade)– Arms reductions– Colonial readjustments– Evacuation of troops– Self-determination of nationalities– Redrawing of Europe’s boundaries – International political organization

(League of Nations)• Wilson stood for liberal democracy, ideas

of the Enlightenment, and that WWI should end with a new type of treaty

• Treaties of the past were made through unprincipled deals and bargains

• Little regard was given to the people• Believed in a democratic age a treaty could

be reached

Sticking points• France

– wanted war reparations, security

• England – Wanted to protect colonies– Against freedom of the seas,

and self determination

• Italy – wanted Austrian lands

• Germany – believed that after having a

liberal government installed they would be treated less severely

The Big Four• Were 27 nations at Paris in Jan 1919

• Big Four– Major decisions made by Wilson, Lloyd George,

Clemenceau, and Orlando

• They were not particularly the best for the task at hand (varied backgrounds)

• Professors (W, O) , reformer (G), and a nationalist (C)

• They did stand as the democratically elected leaders of the western world and as such spoke with the authority of their people

A League of Nations• Nations could meet to discuss issues• No sovereignty would be lost (theoretically)• Wilson wanted provision for religious freedom• Japan wanted condemnation of racial discrimination too

(Immigration Laws in US)– US and Brits opposed for fear international authority

may interfere with immigration practice• Provision was dropped

• Each promised not to resort to war• Covenant of the League of Nations was written into the

Treaty of Versailles• Negotiation points

– France wanted security from Germany– Anglo-French-American treaty

• Guaranteed to back France up if Germany attacked

Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France• German military

presence was banned in the region near the Rhine and the area was subject to Allied occupation

• Poland was created as a buffer to the west from Russian Bolshevism

• A downsized Austrian republic remained

• Czechoslovakia was organized

Germany lost its colonies• Colonies were divided between

various European interests• Japan took control of Germany’s

eastern interests• Japan demanded concessions in

China• Half the concessions were granted• A dissatisfied Japan walked out of

the conference• A dissatisfied China walked out of the

conference• Germany was disarmed

– German fleet was taken by the Allies• German crews sank the ships

– Limited to 100 thousand men– Conscription forbidden– Heavy artillery, aviation, submarines

forbidden• But the officer class retained political

influence

War damages• Allies put forth staggering

demands for reparations – $33 billion (ie. A Gajillion dollars)

• Demands were emotionally motivated

• Brits and French wanted to charge Germany with entire expenses of war, including war pensions

• No total was determined and the question was left unanswered

• Germany was required to:– Surrender its merchant marine– Make coal deliveries– Give up all property owned by

German private citizens abroad

The “war guilt” clause (Article 231)• Germany accepted the

responsibility for all loss and damage resulting from the war

• Germany citizens felt no responsibility for the war– They believed the High

Command was responsible

• War guilt clause was an insult to the honor of the Germans and they would agitate against it

The Treaty of Versailles• Germany refused to sign• Internal agitation and the

threat of renewed hostilities led to the Social Democrats and a Catholic party submitting to the treaty

• This greatly weakened the credibility of a fledgling gov

• GERMANY BELIEVED THEY NEVER AGREED TO ANYTHING

• The other treaties registered the end of the Russian, Austrian, and Turkish empires

• Seven new independent states now existed

The Failure of Versailles• The treaty was too severe

– Reparations– Disarmament– Hurt the fledgling German republic

• The treaty was not severe enough– Did not destroy Germany’s economic

strength– Did not destroy Germany’s political

strengths– The penalties that were prescribed were

not enforced• Loss of faith in the treaty by the Allies

made the task of German agitators easier

Dissatisfaction• Britain was unhappy with the treaty• Attention was shifting to Bolshevism• Italians were unhappy with the few spoils of war

they received• The Chinese were dissatisfied• Russians looked at the cordon sanitaire as an

insult– refers to attempts to prevent the spread of

an ideology deemed unwanted or dangerous• Resented the loss of former Russian territory• The U.S. never ratified the treaty• Objected to the clause that committed the U.S.

to military action on the behalf of Britain and France

• French felt duped• No A-F-A agreement• No Rhineland

The League of Nations• League was established in Geneva• A great step beyond international anarchy• U.S. never joined• Constitutional issues• Political issues• Western authority in the League did not reflect the true situation in the

world• Was seen as a tool to maintain French and British authority in the

world• WWI• Ended the last institutions of aristocratic feudalism• Special advantage of the old landed aristocracies was swept away• The war was a victory for democracy• The war did not answer the nagging questions of the day

– Industrialism and nationalism– Economic security and international stability

• Left Europe weaker in the face of– Rising economic power of America– Revolutionary government of the Soviet Union– Emerging anti-colonial movements of Africa and Asia